Fahe applauds the hard work of Congress producing a 2018 Farm Bill, and salutes the leadership of Chairman Roberts, Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Stabenow, and Ranking Member Peterson. As a network of local leaders making communities and economies work across Appalachia, we appreciate the 2018 Farm Bill’s investment in our region. We support the improved regulatory adjustments and authorizations for rural broadband contained in the conference report. Increasing the “minimum acceptable level of broadband service for a rural area” to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload is an important step in the right direction for quality of broadband provided to rural areas like much of our region.

We also believe in continued food-on-the-table investments and support for our region’s local grocery stores embodied in the continued funding of SNAP. Across Appalachia, nutrition programs are often what stands between families and empty dinner tables. We want stable good paying jobs, but not to limit the investments made available to our communities through restrictive work requirements in a region without enough stable good paying jobs. We are glad that conferees saw this reasoning in the conference report.

Although we wish the mandatory investment in the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program had continued, we are glad the conference report makes meaningful new investments in rolling back the opioid epidemic by authorizing investments in additional treatment and facilities. Complementary to the rural broadband improvements, the bill also wisely prioritizes telehealth investments as part of a larger treatment strategy for addressing the opioid crisis.

Fahe strongly supports the conferenced Farm Bill and encourages the House to move forward with passing the final bill and the President to sign.

About Fahe
Fahe’s Network of local leaders and partners builds communities and economies that work. We have cultivated the deepest reaching platform to connect investment to boots on the ground leadership throughout one of the most difficult places to serve in the country.